ASIA MARKETS: Asian Shares Largely Rise After Wall Street Sets New Records
July 12 2019 - 1:51AM
Dow Jones News
By Associated Press
BANGKOK (AP) -- Shares in Asia traded mostly higher Friday after
a turbulent day on Wall Street ended with the Dow Jones Industrial
Average closing above 27,000 for the first time.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index edged 0.1% higher and the Hang Seng in
Hong Kong added 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite index also rose 0.5%,
while Australia's S&P ASX 200 closed down 0.2%. South Korea's
Kospi climbed 0.2%. Shares fell in Taiwan but rose in Bangkok and
Singapore.
Regional investors were watching for Chinese trade data due out
later Friday.
The Wall Street milestones came on a day when the S&P 500
briefly topped 3,000 for the second straight day before the rally
ran out of steam
The market lost some ground after an auction of long-term U.S.
government bonds failed to drum up strong demand. That pulled bond
prices lower, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury
note to 2.13% from 2.06% late Wednesday, a big move.
Stocks have been trending higher for much of the week as
investors have grown more confident that the Federal Reserve may
cut interest rates for the first time in a decade as soon as the
end of this month.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 2,999.91 and has set three straight
record highs. The Dow gained 0.8% to 27,088.08. The Nasdaq
composite gave up an early gain, sliding 0.1% to 8,196.04, while
the Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks dropped 0.5% to
1,557.92.
Stocks rose from the get-go Thursday as investors looked ahead
to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell testifying before a Congressional
committee for the second straight day.
Powell stressed that the Fed is prepared to cut interest rates
to support the economy, raising hopes that the first reduction in
its key policy rate in a decade could happen later this month.
He noted that "uncertainties around trade tensions and concerns
about the strength of the global economy continue to weigh on the
U.S. economic outlook."
New government data released Thursday showed consumer prices
rose in June from a year earlier. The bump in inflation wasn't
expected to give the Fed reason to reconsider whether it should
lower rates, if necessary. Inflation has remained muted through
much of the economy's 10-year expansion, which Powell has said
cited as a justification for potentially lowering rates.
"With the latest inflation data uptick led by volatile
categories, equity investors quickly brushed it aside and continued
to relish in the afterglow of a far more dovish than expected Chair
Powell as rate cut fever remains alive and well," Stephen Innes of
Vanguard Markets said in a commentary.
Benchmark crude oil rose 37 cents to $60.57 per barrel in
electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On
Thursday, it lost 23 cents to settle at $60.20 a barrel. Brent
crude oil , the international standard, added 44 cents to $66.96
per barrel. It dropped 49 cents to close at $66.52 a barrel in
London.
The dollar fell to 108.37 Japanese yen from 108.50 yen on
Thursday. The strengthened to $1.1271 from $1.1254.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 12, 2019 01:36 ET (05:36 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.